1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains, in general, to sports and athletic equipment, and in particular, to an improved water ski tow bridle and handle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tow bridle for water skiing typically comprises one or a pair of elongated cylindrical handles, which may be made of wood, and which contain a pair of transverse through holes located at either end. A loop of tow rope, typically stranded polypropylene, has ends which extend through, or into, the handle and are knotted to hold the rope to the handle. The balance of the tow rope attaches to the loop at its midpoint and extends forward to attach to a tow boat.
This simple handle/bridle arrangement has a number of problems which various practitioners have, over the years, attempted to address.
Once such problem is that wooden handles have a hard surface which is difficult to grasp when the handle is wet. Additionally, the wood tends to crack and split when repeatedly exposed to moisture. Also, the ends of the handle tend to be hard and can cause painful injury if they strike the skier while moving with some velocity. An effort to address some of these problems is the handgrip of Brownson in U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,068 in which the wooden handle is replaced by hollow-core aluminum tube having stoppers in the ends to seal the tube for flotation, a soft, cellular foam coating around the handle for gripping comfort and a pair of soft endcaps to protect the skier against impacts by hard, sharp ends of the tube.
Another problem encountered with such handles is the fraying that can occur at the point where the rope enters the handle, coupled with the abrasion or pinching of the fingers of the skier which can occur when the skier's hands are placed on the handle toward either end, particularly during hard turns. An effort to overcome some of these problem may be found in the end caps and handle construction of Rumbaugh in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,049.
Another common problem with water ski tow handles and bridles is the fraying and the subsequent parting of the tow rope which commonly occurs between the handle and the rope just ahead of the attachment knot during hard use of the handle. In an effort to overcome this common problem, skilled practitioners have taken to threading the rope through the handle and forming a loop about the handle with it, then recirculating the end of the rope back through the handle and splicing it into the core of the rope to retain the rope by means of the "Chinese handcuff" method. Such an attachment configuration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,460 to Beck, wherein a length of heat shrinkable tubing is applied over a sleeve of rubber directly adjacent to the handle to insure that the braided rope always retains some grip on the portion of rope inserted into it and to provide protection for the hands of the skier.
Another variation on this looping technique is described in Brownson in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,418.
Yet another recirculating loop attachment is illustrated in Pittman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,478, in which a protective end cap having a molded, elongated sleeve attached to it is provided to snap over each end of the handle and the bridle rope at the point of attachment.
Another variation on the recirculating rope loop attachment method is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,290 to Holland, in which a sleeve is formed integrally with the handgrip and has a hole extending transversely therethrough such that the towline loop encircles the grip through the corresponding sleeve hole.
A handgrip having a triangular cross-section and utilizing the looped tow rope to encircle the handgrip is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,258 to Presser.
Two further variations of the loop rope and protector sleeve attachments are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,540,371 and 4,585,420, both to Taylor.
A shock-absorbing water ski tow handle which floats and which eschews the looped-rope attachment method is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,210 to Stein, wherein a pair of tapered pins are utilized to attach the rope to the handle.
Presser, In U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,638, discusses a ski tow arrangement in which looped rope ends are retained within the ski handle by means of a pair of flat, T-shaped retainer clips having projecting barbs embedded into a wooden core.
While each of the foregoing references represents a valuable contribution to the water ski tow bridle art, some problems associated with the "weak link" of the assemblage, namely, the tow rope attachment, still remain. Thus, the simple knot at the end of the rope is subject to continuous wear, and seldom lasts for a season of heavy skiing. The looping method partially eliminates the fraying problem, but is relatively labor intensive to implement and, unless skillfully done, can prove to be unreliable, particularly during hard competition use.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a water skiing tow bridle, including handle, which is strong and reliable enough to be well-suited for professional use and which completely eliminates the rope breakage problem, yet which is simple and inexpensive to fabricate and assemble.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a bridle which is comfortable to grip, relatively impact-safe, and which eliminates the finger pinching and abrasion problem of the prior art devices.